Psilos
Bird Journal |
Thursday July
2nd 2009 |
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"Young
lives " |
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Another scorching hot day and
I realise it is over two months since I last visited Martinmere. A visit
to see what young birds are about was a must and I was very glad not
to be disappointed. |
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This year there seems to be
a healthy number of Swallows flying around the front of the visitor
centre. Whilst I was distracted with my bags my son snapped a pair who
were mating right above the main entrance. I also noticed that Swallows
were landing on a sign post on a grass bank. There was a colourful sign
behind it so by positioning myself accordingly I took advantage of the
colours to provide a more unusual back drop. |
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Whilst I wasnt
looking this newly fledged Swallow landed on the sign and was fed by
the parent. Naturally I missed it and the bird did not return but I
did manage to capture the juvenile as he flew off so all was not lost. |
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Hawaiiam gosling
numbers were somewhat disappointing this year but it was still good
to see some of them in a family group despite the fact that they are
almost fully grown. Never the less the parents were still very protective. |
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The juveniles, shown below are
noticeable by being alittle more ruffled, paler in colour and slightly
smaller than the adults. |
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One definate first for me today
was to see the gosling of an Andean goose. The birds are very rare and
have not been together long as a pair so I was very surprised to see
the baby in the pen rather than in the nursery.At martinmere only the
Hawaiian geese and sometimes Ross's and Swan geese rear their young
outside the nursery. Under a nearby bush there were other eggs. This
gosling did not appear to be newly hatched so i have no idea if the
other eggs will hatch. |
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